When it comes to Lim Hyo-joon, there will be two different voices in South Korea. One is to sigh, to lament his departure. The other is to hate Lim Hyo-joon for naturalization in other countries, and even he will represent the Chinese team in short-track speed skating competitions in the future, so he is regarded as a "traitor" in the Korean sports world.
However, no matter how South Koreans think of Lim Hyo-joon, he is now a Chinese. Just on January 28, Lin Xiaojun spoke up. He said that although he did not have the opportunity to participate in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, he would prepare more seriously for future events and strive to win more medals for China's short track speed skating.
Lin Xiaojun's voice is not talking big. In fact, he is recognized as the new generation of short track speed skating successors in South Korea. Before he was naturalized in China, Korean media generally believed that after Kim Ki-hoon, Choi Ji-hoon, Ahn Hyun-so, Lee Jeong-so and other short-track speed skating predecessors, he would take on the heavy responsibility of Short Track Speed Skating in South Korea.
However, where there are so-called people, there are rivers and lakes. In 2019, because he was not accustomed to his teammates often harassing female players through small actions, he directly ripped off his teammates' pants during a climbing training. Originally, I just wanted to teach my teammates a lesson and make him restrain his behavior, but he didn't expect to cause himself big trouble.
In August of the same year, Lin Xiaojun was found guilty of sexual harassment when he pickped the pants of his teammates and was sentenced to one year in prison and suspended for two years. However, at the end of 2020, Lin Xiaojun was not acquitted in the second instance after appeal. That means he can keep coming back to the game. However, after a more than 1 year of suspension, the desire to return to the field is still far away. Finally, in March 2021, he decided to become a Chinese citizen in order to return to the short track speed skating arena.
In this regard, Lin Xiaojun was criticized by tens of thousands of South Koreans. However, the South Korean media also had to admit that Lin Xiaojun suffered unfair treatment in the harassment incident. As for why it has never resumed its racing status, it is recognized as an internal struggle in Korean ice sports.
As for why Lin Xiaojun chose the Chinese team? There are three main reasons. First of all, during the ban, Lin Xiaojun came to China for recovery training, so he is familiar with the environment of Chinese ice sports. Secondly, China, Japan and South Korea are very similar in culture, but considering the relationship between Japan and South Korea, China is the best choice for him to leave.
Finally, in recent years, China's sports industry has flourished, and it attaches great importance to outstanding sports talents. This made Lin Xiaojun realize that in China, he can not only return to the field he loves, but also have a bigger professional stage. As for why he left, in the final analysis, there is no room for Lin Hyo-joon in the Korean ice sports world.